Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid filling method of a liquid container.
Description of the Related Art
A liquid container such as an ink tank that contains ink and supplies it to a printing head is required to be configured to be capable of smoothly supplying the contained ink (liquid) until the ink is used up without leakage thereof.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-062337, for example, discloses a configuration in which use of a spring and a flexible sheet generates an appropriate amount of negative pressure within a liquid containing chamber. Such a configuration as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-062337 enables supply of liquid at a stable flow velocity and flow rate while making it possible to contain more ink, compared to conventional configurations having an absorbent such as a sponge within the liquid containing chamber. However, there is a case where when air remains within the liquid containing chamber after the liquid containing chamber is filled with the liquid, the volume of the air fluctuates according to a change in temperature or pressure at the time of distribution, causing a concern for leakage of the liquid. Therefore, it is desirable that, at the time of shipping from a factory, the amount of the air within the liquid containing chamber be suppressed to be small to the extent that leakage does not occur even with a change in environments.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-175855 discloses a method in which injecting liquid into a liquid containing chamber is followed by actively collecting remaining air at a specified portion to suck the air in the volume from the liquid containing chamber. According to the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-175855, shipping is available in a state in which the air within the liquid containing chamber is reduced as much as possible, whereby arrival with no leakage of the liquid can be expected even with a change in temperature or pressure at the time of distribution.